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Having visited the Batson River in Portland, we took the advice of a stranger and tried the other one in Biddeford.

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It’s housed in a renovated mill complex, on the bottom floor below the Lincoln Hotel.

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Old paper mills abound in the state of Maine and if one has enough money, they make wonderful homes for restaurants, shops and offices.

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Batson River Biddeford clearly had enough green backs.

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The space was large, airy and festively decorated.

As was the cocktail menu.

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As we settled in at the bar, I sampled the Santa’s mule which was fabulously gingerly.

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I read that the Portland location considered it’s vibe “upscale hunting lodge” but it was this venue that had red hatted taxidermy.

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Personally I could do without the dead creatures on the walls…

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But overall it was an attractive place.

For an appetizer I had buttermilk biscuits with herbed butter, hot honey and prosciutto.

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Odd, but it totally worked.

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Husband had the P.E.I. mussels which he said were good, but overpowered by the spicy tomato sauce they were served with.

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Drink #2 was the Angry Elf because you can never go wrong with gin and elderflower.

Needing to visit the restroom, I stumbled on the game room…

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And I have to say the decorators outdid themselves with the unisex bathrooms.

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They were quite something.

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Although I did find the snake and butterfly wallpaper a bit much in the stalls…

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And no, it wasn’t the four cocktails I’d consumed that caused the photo to blur, just low lighting and an iPhone that had a hard time focusing.

Back at the bar, we decided we weren’t hungry enough for individual meals and chose to split the pan seared scallops with roasted vegetables.

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I thought it was lovely, the husband who hates crisp veggies did not.

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We walked around a bit downstairs before leaving…

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And had to chuckle at these two oddly hooded chairs.

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Shortly after these….

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We stumbled into what I’ve since learned was The Collective… an urban underground lounge of the hotel upstairs.

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If we’d had more time I would have gone upstairs and explored this hotel as it’s just been voted one of the best boutique stays in the country.

https://lincolnhotelmaine.com/

Maybe next time…

😉

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